The Church needs to engage in the digital revolution.
About this Book:
A 25-year-old part-time blogger and full-time mechanical engineer is convinced that the Catholic Church needs to embrace new media as it did print, radio, and television. If She wants to connect with her flock, Brandon Vogt says, the Church needs to engage the digital revolution.
And some of the Church's most influential shepherds agree. With endorsements from three cardinals, two archbishops, and a Vatican communications official, Vogt has produced a groundbreaking book on technology and faith, which also includes contributions from dozens of other Catholic new media experts.
People around the world are adjusting to the greatest communication shift since the dawn of the printing press. Millions today communicate through Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and Twitter, which means the effectiveness of the Church's message depends on engaging these New Media tools.
Author Brandon Vogt - a mechanical engineer by profession - is a writer and speaker who blogs about theology, technology, social justice, and books. This rare convergence of talent and professional background has positioned him to write a primer that is virtually a stand-alone resource.
Following Pope Benedict's call to evangelize the "digital continent," The Church and New Media explores the power and risks of New Media while guiding Christians through this new digital environment.
Foreword by Cardinal Seán O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap.
Afterword by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
The book's 12 contributors are a veritable who's who of Catholic new media experts. They explore a range of new media tactics:
reaching the unchurched
sharing spiritual journeys
connecting with young adults
reading - and writing - blogs
understanding ancient Church tradition
podcasting
digitally defending the teachings of the Church
new-media strategies for dioceses and parishes
the Vatican's digital model
new-media activism
building digital movements
"I knew this book would better serve the Church if it came from multiple perspectives," Vogt explains. "So I gathered a dozen of the best new-media innovators to explain their areas of expertise. This helped the book play more like a symphony than a solo. It made the song much more alluring."
Expert contributors include:
Father Robert Barron
Lisa Hendey
Jennifer Fulwiler
Father Dwight Longenecker
Thomas Peters
Mark Shea
Matt Warner
About the Author:
Brandon Vogt is a Catholic writer and speaker who regularly blogs at The Thin Veil. He writes on spirituality, technology, and social-justice, and features regular book reviews and weekly giveaways. He also manages a special blog connected with his new book, The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet at The Church and New Media. The book, essentially a one-of-a-kind resource on new media for the Church, has been endorsed by many of the top ranking Cardinals and bishops in the U.S - including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Cardinal Seán O'Malley of Boston, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC.
In May 2011 the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications invited Vogt as one of only 10 Americans to dialogue with Vatican officials and international bloggers on social media. He has been interviewed widely on the topic all over the U.S., including on EWTN, EWTN radio, Relevant Radio, in Our Sunday Visitor newsweekly, and many other publications.
Brandon daylights as a mechanical engineer in Casselberry, Florida, where he lives with his wife, Kathleen, and their two children, Isaiah and Teresa.
What Are People Saying about this Title?
"The Church and New Media is the best kind of reading: timely, vivid, and rich in valuable information. For anyone seeking to understand and use today's new techologies in advancing the Catholic Faith, this book is an unsurpassed resource."-Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.,
Archdiocese of Denver
Product Details:
Binding: paperback
Pages: 224